The Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) published a report showing that China broke the world record for most wind power capacity installed in a single year in 2020, with 52 gigawatts (GW) of new capacity -- doubling the country's annual installations compared to the previous year.
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"The incredible and rapid growth of wind power in the region has been led by China, which now has more wind power capacity than Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America combined," said Feng Zhao, head of market intelligence and strategy at the GWEC.
"We were expecting an installation rush in China last year due to the phase-out of the onshore wind Feed-in-Tariff by the end of 2020, but the Chinese wind market exceeded our original forecasts by over 73 percent," Zhao added.
"Top-down policies requiring wind and solar be integrated into the power grid, rather than subsidy support, would probably drive the greater transition to renewables", Liang Wanliang, a China director for the GWEC, said.
China’s Central Committee for Financial and Economic Affairs on Monday addressed that its country needed a new kind of electrical system centered around new energy, which was interpreted as a signal of continued strong policy support for renewables.
This Asian country aim to have CO2 emissions peak before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060, and its government moves sparked optimism for a breakthrough in global climate negotiations.
Meanwhile, the share of clean energy consumption in China has risen from 19.1 percent in 2016 to 24.3 percent in 2020, according to China's National Bureau of Statistics.